Any corrections and technique improvements are welcome: looking to get faster/more efficient in the water. Thank you so much!

Even after I identified what it was, I felt my fight or flight instincts kicking in just looking at it. Lol. Had to keep calm so I wouldn't inhale a bunch of water.

Hi everyone! For context I’m 41m, was an avid recreational swimmer for years but stopped in 2020 or so.

I started swimming in May with the goal of doing a 10000m swim by December. Today was the last time I could use my local outdoor pool for the season, I was feeling great, it was a lovely day. So…why not?

This was 70% freestyle mixing a pull buoy here and there and 30% kick board (I hate all other strokes). If you’re contemplating this, a few tips. (1) the stretch from 8000-9000m is the hardest. (2) keep electrolytes handy, (3) I’d try to have a snack of some type in the pool, got super hungry at 7000m and the vision of a big dinner kept me going, and (4) think of the run as small sets—I tried to envision this as 20x500m.

Super happy to make my goal early! Now I’ve gotta get those times to improve.

Looking to make 3000m next since I discovered how to enable alerts on the smartwatch each 1000m and I wasn't even exhausted and even if pool was crowded today !

Hello,

my kid will soon be turning 13. Has AAA time now in 1,650 yards free style and wants to improve to AAAA in 13-14 age group. Also likes LCM events such as 800, 400 and 200 in free and 200 in all strokes and has AA+ times in most of them. Wants to get to AAA+ in yards and meters for all of them.

I was wondering if folks could share good endurance exercises that would be age appropriate in addition to what kids do at team level to make these goals achievable? We already do extra strength work both in the water and dry land so that’s separate… Curious if endurance tailored work should be in the water or if dryland (such as stationary bike or elliptical with target heart rate) might be appropriate too

TLDR: got -4 shortsightedness prescription goggles from Amazon for $20 and they're awesome!

Ive been swimming for months and my shortsightednness was a problem. Either I'd put my contacts on (which aren't comfortable, stopped wearing them years ago), and they would sometimes slide in my eyes even with goggles. Or I'd go without glasses, and then its really annoying, can't see people, cant see the clock, can't see the coaches well.

Given how expensive glasses are, I didn't consider getting prescription lenses, but I discovered you can get them for $20, without having to send a prescription (which is yet another expensive step in the US, they usually require a recent prescription for glasses). Been swimming with them twice and its such a game changer!

I wish I'd know this earlier.

I am very slow and I am having trouble with breathing. I feel a bit embarrassed to post it here, but there is a start for everything.

I’ve been wondering what other swimmers are doing for weekly yardage. Right now I’m averaging about 10,000 yards per week across 4–5 swims, with most of my 100 frees coming in around 1:15. I’m curious how this compares to others? whether you’re swimming for fitness, Masters, triathlon, or competition.

How many yards (or meters) do you usually log per week? Do you focus more on distance, intervals, or technique work? Has your yardage made a difference in speed or endurance? Just trying to get a sense of what’s “normal” out there and maybe some ideas to mix up my training.

I really love sports and would like to go competitive in one of them. I know it takes A LOT of effort, but I'd rather put in whatever effort is needed than sit home all day like I've been doing for a good few years.

Do I have any hope at being a competitive swimmer if I start at 17 without any prior swimming experience? (I mean, I do swim a little since we go to the beach for vacation every year, but that's probably not enough)

For context, I only swim in the high school season which is in the winter in my state, but our practices are pretty intense for two hours every weekday along with a one hour practice Saturday mornings. A couple months ago I started going to the gym and lifting weights pretty consistently(4-6 days a week) and I'm wondering if it'll have any impact on my ability to swim if I keep lifting during the season and vice versa. Thanks in advance!

Edit: If I stopped lifting during swimming season would I start losing muscle mass since I'd be on a caloric deficit?

The first stroke

So I would really appreciate some help here. I've done a 25.6 in a 50 metre freestyle short course at 15, I have another competition in a few months and I wanna break as much time as possible. Now the issue is I analysed my race and my dive was near perfect, My breakout was really strong but the issue is after like 9 strokes I died out quickly, my speed declined and I couldn't maintain that crazy fast speed which was at the beginning. Right now i'm doing Monday and Thursday Gym Rest of the days Swim and Sunday off Now another issue is my coach mainly trains people for 200/100s and isn't a good 50s coach so the only time i'll have to train sprinting is before gym, so i'd really appreciate if someone helps me on what I should do + share some sets/programs to help me break my time. Thanks!

Hello, I am new here. I recently took up swimming again (I used to do competitive swimming when i was little) and have been going swimming two times a week. I like to swim breaststroke and backstroke and I usually swim around 10 laps (1km) in a session, 2 sessions a week. Is this enough to see benefits? Would increasing to 3 times be marginally better? Should I push for more laps? It takes me around 25-30 minutes to complete 10 laps. I don't like to go super fast but I try to keep up pace and get my heartrate going. What would be a realistic goal goal I should push for?

Please give me advice I am a newbie

Hi to everyone!!!!

Want to know the secret to entering a swimming pool during the rains???

Now the pool water is pretty chill so do you guys take a cold shower and enter the pool or hot shower and then enter the pool. 2 days back i took the cold shower but I still felt cold in the pool. Being a beginner, i find it hard to breathe while swimming in cold water and then the body is not comfortable with the water temperature. Valuable Tips???

I am going to get my first tech suit and I wanted to know if there are any hard suggestions. I live in a country where you can basically only get arena and I do all events. I want to start focusing on mainly sprinting. But I also wondered if I should buy a cheaper suit first and then an expensive one or just buy an expensive one.

(Sorry if it’s poorly written English is not my first language)

Beginner swimmer. I am confused about how much body rotation to have when swimming freestyle. Do you rotate your upper body and lower body the same amount or do you rotate both upper and lower but with the upper body rotating more than lower body body? I have seen conflicting info from various sources. Thanks for any feedback.

I am visiting Australia, winter time, and I noticed there are many rock pools or tidal pools along the coast next to the ocean, the pool is sea water. Yesterday, I noticed a person just floating on her back motionlessly, no kicking. Chill. Relax.

Is the water in rockpools saltier than sea water? I dont recall the ability to float on my back without having to kick. (i.e. does it also work the same in open sea water) ? I always thought this phenomenon only happens in the Dead Sea (not a sea, but a salt lake).

So I've taken swim "classes" every summer at my local rec pool for almost a decade now. Im now a freshman in high school and joined the water polo team, thinking I was a decent swimmer. Hell no I wasn't. Turns out those classes didnt do much for me. We just did an 100 sprint and I got just above a 1:30, which is horrible. My arms give out really fast, just after the first 25. Any advice?

I'm getting into swimming (v beginner) and I need a good goggle rec! I have migraines and a lot of eye pain on a day to day so trying to find the most comfortable goggle that won't make this worse. I have a bigger head too if that helps. Thanks in advance!

Went to a pool and caught it. Woke up about last friday with hearing my left ear noticeably gone, still there but not as good as my right ear. I’ve had no pain in the ear but constant ringing in it is very annoying. Went to the doctors this past Thursday and said I had a lot of gunk in my ear. Prescribed me ofloxacin, 5 drops a day. It’s never hurt but I just want the ringing to stop. Anyone else have this issue? And how long ago did it take for the ringing to stop?